


End of the Line

by EmpressCactuar



Series: SnK Kink Meme Fills [5]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, Amputation, Angst, Character Death, Gen, Guns, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:54:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22584385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressCactuar/pseuds/EmpressCactuar
Summary: Reiner made an anxious face and went to sit on the ground next to his cousin, putting a hand on Gabi’s shoulder. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her temple, Gabi closing her eyes and letting a couple of tears drip out.(Zombie AU)
Relationships: Gabi Braun & Reiner Braun, Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover
Series: SnK Kink Meme Fills [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1494695
Kudos: 26





	End of the Line

**Author's Note:**

> **_Gen - Horror AU_ **   
>  _Any characters in any sort of horror setting, anything from awful teenage horror flick to encountering eldritch abominations, titan or otherwise. Any characters, setting, universe, etc. that the filler wants. I really hope this isn't too far fetched, even though the Titans are already horrible monsters in canon, haha._

“No… no… no…” Bertholdt paced back and forth quickly, clutching tightly at his own hair while trying to stop the internal panic bubbling up inside of him. Reiner sat close by at the table, shaking his head at the situation. Pieck and Galliard stood close by, Galliard taking a smoke from Annie’s supplies and trying to enjoy the flavor despite everything that had happened. 

Well, Annie was dead now. It was a really unfortunate situation. Running out of bullets in the middle of an onslaught like that? They were lucky Galliard quickly took her bag off her corpse before she turned, so at least they hadn’t lost her supplies. 

Who all had they lost now? Annie died being turned into a zombie. Zeke betrayed them and absconded with a ton of their supplies, taking them away to his goddamned brother and his friends. That put them in a horrendous bind. Falco’s brother and uncle both died; Colt was burned to death and Grice was torn apart by a horde of zombies when his ankle rolled. Marcel was eaten by a zombie right at the start of this disaster. 

And then there was the elephant in the room that nobody wanted to address, but that they had to. Reiner had a bite from one of those horrendous monsters on his arm. Less than thirty minutes ago, actually. If Bertholdt wasn’t such a good shot they’d have been doomed. 

“What are we going to do?” Reiner’s cousin said quietly. Reiner made an anxious face and went to sit on the ground next to his cousin, putting a hand on Gabi’s shoulder. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her temple, Gabi closing her eyes and letting a couple of tears drip out. 

“I have an idea that might work…” Pieck started to say, grabbing the attention of all her friends. “I was thinking about it. If we cut off Reiner’s arm, it might stop the spread of… _whatever_ all this is.” 

Reiner swallowed at the suggestion. This wasn’t like medicine before this catastrophe where there was a bunch of anesthesia and painkillers and medical supplies to help him through something like that. If they cut off his arm, it’d be with that serrated knife Galliard kept and with nothing to help the pain. 

But the alternative was death. Either he’d turn into a zombie or they’d kill him before he did. 

“What?!” Bertholdt asked loudly, surprising all the others. Galliard frowned and sushed Bertholdt. 

“You want those things to find us?” Bertholdt frowned, but turned to Reiner sitting next to Gabi. He had an arm around his cousin, running a thumb along the back of the hand he was holding. Gabi… she was so scared. He had to keep it together. At the very least for Reiner and Gabi. 

“…I’m sorry.” Bertholdt walked over to Reiner, putting his hands on Reiner’s shoulder. 

“Bertl… we’ve got our backs to the wall here. Pieck?” Pieck looked at Reiner, waiting for him to speak. Her arms were crossed, her body leaning back into Galliard’s while he kept an arm around her shoulder. “I… go ahead. Just do it. I know it might not work… but if we do nothing it definitely won’t work.” 

“Okay. Bertholdt, come here. I’m going to need you and Galliard to hold Reiner down because, well… you know. I’ll put on the tourniquet and do the deed. Gabi?” 

Gabi glanced up, Falco having moved to sit next to her. He was leaning his head against hers, tears dripping down his face. “Huh…?” 

“Sweetie. I need you and Falco to help me. Bertholdt and Porco are holding down one of Reiner’s legs and his arm. You two need to hold down his other leg.” Gabi swallowed. There was no alternative. Reiner was going to die if they didn’t do something. She and Falco wordlessly rose and walked over to the table that Pieck laid Reiner down on. 

Reiner started shivering in fear when Pieck took Galliard’s large knife. She took some disinfectant she had collected from the ruined drugstore they had looted, cleaning off the knife. He felt Gabi and Falco pin down one of his legs, Galliard pinning down the other while Pieck tied the tourniquet unbearably tightly around his upper arm. 

A sniffle. Reiner glanced over at the weight pinning down his right arm. Bertholdt. His eyes were wet, his face filled with worry and anxiety. “Reiner… it’s going to be okay. I know it’s going to hurt. I’m sorry. I love you.” 

Reiner inhaled deeply when Pieck finished applying the tourniquet. She shoved some gauze in his mouth to muffle his screaming. “I’m sorry, Reiner.” 

Bertholdt clapped a hand over Reiner’s mouth and closed his eyes. He pinned Reiner’s arm underneath his knees and cried quietly to himself when Reiner tried and failed to start flailing. He glanced at Gabi and knew she was being traumatized. 

  


Gabi closed her eyes and leaned against Bertholdt, him holding her close and rubbing her shoulder with his hand. Reiner was still unconscious. At some point while Pieck was working he just passed out from the pain. His disembodied arm was tossed onto the floor over in the corner. 

Bertholdt took hold of his pistol and mindlessly looked it over. Gabi glanced at the handgun. When they were in a more favorable position, before Zeke betrayed them all, he had started teaching Gabi how to shoot. Falco too, but Gabi was much better at it and they didn’t have enough guns for everyone. Of course now that Reiner was down a limb, Falco took his shotgun. 

“Bertholdt… is Reiner going to be okay?” Gabi asked, Bertholdt sighing heavily at the question. He shook his head. 

“I don’t know, Gabi. We just have to wait and see. He could still turn. He could get a really bad infection because it isn’t really clean around here.” Bertholdt’s heart was breaking at the thought of his boyfriend dying. What sort of horrible nightmare was all this? Just a couple of months ago they were teasing each other at Reiner’s mom’s house about how Reiner oversalted everything he cooked. 

Gabi sniffled again. Bertholdt put down his pistol and pulled her into a hug, running his hands along her hair. Gabi clung tightly to him, wetting his filthy shirt with tears. He didn’t even care about that anymore. Staying clean was a thing of the past. Hell, they’d smeared zombie guts on themselves as a form of camouflage. 

“What are we going to do? Is this ever going to end?” Bertholdt didn’t have any answers, so he kept Gabi safe in his arms while everyone waited for Reiner to wake up. They couldn’t stay too long… but if Galliard even thought about suggesting they leave Reiner behind he’d just carry Reiner’s body himself god damn it all. 

  


Reiner shivered, his body in unbearable pain. He kept walking slowly, his body hurting so badly he wanted to just collapse and give up. He wanted to die. But he didn’t. 

He just wanted things to be like they were before. He was going to ask Bertholdt to marry him once he graduated college. They were so close. Surely Bertholdt would’ve said yes. Surely Galliard would’ve chilled out for long enough to have a nice wedding. And Gabi would’ve been buzzing around wanting a slice of the wedding cake. He wanted to live with Bertholdt by his side. 

But he wanted to die. His blood felt cold inside his body. It was frigid, despite the fact that he knew it was the middle of summer and Gabi was sweltering while she walked beside him. It was the end of the line for him, and he knew it. And deep down, Gabi had to know it to. But she kept walking next to him protectively regardless. 

She clutched the baseball bat in her hand tightly. At some point she became numb, beating zombies to death easily by crushing the napes of their necks with her bat. But for now, the zombies left them alone. They were covered in guts, the zombies unable to detect their scents. 

They’d been separated from the rest of their group when the bridge they were crossing collapsed. Gabi and Reiner were on the destination side, the others scrambling to find a way across. Bertholdt had begged them to not wander off too far, that they were all going to come across because they had to anyways. 

Reiner closed the door behind him, breathing in heavy breaths at the exertion it took to close the door. 

“Reiner! No!” He started to turn around, Gabi darting behind him when a zombie clutched at his leg, biting into the meat of his calf. He let out an agonized sound, Gabi beating the zombie to a pulp with her bat. The zombie let go, her striking it a few more times for good measure. 

“A police officer…?” Reiner managed to croak, using his arm to drag himself until he was able to lean against the wall of the small building they were in. “Gabi… take the police officer’s gun from his holster…” 

“Y-yeah…” Her hands shook while she did so, but she procured the pistol and held it in her hands, looking it over. 

“On the other side of his hip he… he should have some magazines… take those too.” Reiner breathed deeply, his leg in terrible pain. His lungs felt like they were on fire every time he tried to breath. It hurt so bad… but it didn’t hurt him nearly as much as his heart hurt seeing Gabi put into a situation like this. She took the magazines, handing them to Reiner. He checked them; they were each full, but he wasn’t sure how many bullets were in the magazine already inside the gun. 

Gabi choked out a sob. “Reiner… he, he got your leg…” Gabi threw her arms around Reiner’s shoulders and cried into his neck, Reiner wrapping his arm around her and holding her. “You can’t turn into one of those horrible monsters, Reiner… you can’t. I need you.” 

“Gabi… you know it’s the end of the line for me.” Gabi pulled away and swallowed, looking at her cousin with tears in her eyes. “There’s no way for me to get out of here. I only have one arm, and that zombie got my leg. I can’t even crawl.” Gabi’s eyes went wider every time Reiner said a new word. She knew he was right. 

“Reiner, I can’t lose you too. Mom, dad, Auntie Karina… and now you? God, please, no…” 

“Gabi… come here.” Reiner gestured for her to sit with him, her sitting in his lap. He wrapped his arm around her, very gently swaying her back and forth before kissing her cheek. “I love you. More than you know. I remember when I was eleven and I met you for the first time. You were so cute.” 

“Reiner…” 

“You’ve grown into such a strong, smart, and pretty young lady. I’m so proud of you. You know you can do anything, right?” Gabi grit her teeth, her eyes burning terribly. 

“Stop acting like you’re going to die, Reiner! Stop it!” Reiner frowned at his cousin, trying to gather strength. “I’ll carry you, you’re going to be just fine, as soon as Pieck gets here—” 

“Gabi! Enough of this! Don’t you think this is hard for me too?!” Reiner spat, closing his eyes in pain after he spoke. He took a deep breath, blinking back his own tears while he brought his hand up to wipe away the tears on her face. “I’m going to die. I... I wanted so much more out of life…” Reiner choked out a sob, bringing his hand to his face and wiping at his eyes. “I’m never going to see my Bertholdt again. I’m never going to get to marry him. I don’t get to see my sweet little cousin grow up. I’m not going to be around to even see the sun rise one last time.” 

Gabi pulled Reiner into a tight hug, him holding her with his one arm while she embraced him. The two of them cried into one another, Gabi feeling immense confusion at Reiner finally breaking down. Reiner pulled away after a second. “Reiner?” 

“Gabi, can I ask you a favor?” Gabi nodded ever so slightly, Reiner giving her a warm smile in return. Her lip trembled, her noticing just how cold his hand had gotten. He was going to turn into a zombie unless she killed him in a way that would keep him from reanimating… unless she shot him in the head. 

“What is it, Reiner?” Gabi asked, nuzzling into his chest and letting him run his hand back and forth on her backside. 

“I don’t want my last moments to be me panicking. Can we… can we just talk about old times together? Do you think you’re able to do that for me?” Gabi swallowed and nodded, letting out a sob in spite of herself. She sat on the floor next to Reiner, on the side his arm still was so he could hold her close. “Do you remember the way mom’s garden used to look?” 

“Yeah… Auntie Karina used to get so mad whenever people tried to pick flowers out of her garden. But they were so pretty. I stole a rose from the garden once and she told my parents and they grounded me for a couple of days.” Gabi laughed to herself at the memory. 

“Wanna know a secret?” Gabi nodded, Reiner looking down at her. “The flower I wore on my tuxedo when I took Bertholdt to prom? I stole it out of the garden. It was so pretty and nothing at the flower shop could compare. Bertholdt fell in love with it and we swapped boutonnières. I was jealous of all the compliments he got. We had the flower pressed inside a book back home.” 

“You’re such a dork, Reiner…” Gabi laughed and leaned into Reiner. “Remember how mad you got when I beat your best time in Mario Kart?” Gabi smiled slyly at Reiner. “You never beat it, did you?” 

“No, I didn’t. I tried everything. All the little things I tried to improve my time. I never did beat your time. It was two minutes and sixteen seconds.” Reiner tussled Gabi’s hair a little bit in a teasing manner. 

They shared memories of a simpler time, but eventually Reiner noticed his body weakening. He couldn’t stay awake too much longer. It was time. 

“Gabi… my time’s up, sweetie.” Her lip trembled, her pulling away and tears pouring out her eyes at his words. His skin was so pale, and he looked so weak. 

“Reiner, god, no, don’t turn into a zombie, please… please don’t…” Reiner blinked at her slowly, shaking his head. 

“You know there’s only one way to stop that from happening.” Gabi’s eyes went wide, her looking at the pistol in her hands. “If you can’t do it, you can leave me…” 

“No… I have to do this. I can’t let you become a monster. You… you’re not a monster. You’re my cousin.” Gabi choked out a sob, Reiner gesturing for her to approach him. He used some of his little remaining strength to lift up slightly, Gabi leaning down so he could press a kiss to her cheek. 

“Gabi. When you leave here, get on high ground. Find Bertholdt and the others.” Reiner breathed in deeply, his vision becoming blurry. Was that part of dying? …No. He could feel the wetness dripping out of his eyes. “It’s going to be really hard. But I believe in you.” 

“Reiner…” 

“Bertholdt is smart. Pieck too. They’ll take care of you. And Galliard and Falco. Stay safe with them. They love you.” 

“I know they do.” Gabi kept the pistol tight in her hand, noticing it was shaking. Could she shoot straight? “They love you too.” 

“I know. I wish I could see them again.” Reiner shook his head, looking ahead blearily for a moment. “Gabi? I… I’m going to miss you.” 

“Me… me too. I love you, Reiner.” Reiner smiled weakly at Gabi. What he wouldn’t give for her to not be forced into such a terrible position. She deserved nothing but happiness. 

“I love you too, Gabi. No matter what.” Reiner felt his strength leave him, his eyes fluttering shut. His mind wandered to Bertholdt. …What he wouldn’t give to see those beautiful green eyes one last time. He heard Gabi whimpering, him opening his eyes and seeing her pointing the pistol straight at him. “Gabi… it’s okay. It’s okay. I won’t be mad. Because I love you. No matter what.” 

Gabi bit down on her lip, squeezing her eyes shut and pulling the trigger. 

  


She slipped the promise ring Bertholdt had given Reiner off his corpse’s finger after the deed was done. She took the small bag he had kept. Reiner might be gone but that didn’t mean his supplies had to be lost. Gabi felt absolutely numb while she sat on top of the roof, hugging her knees to her chest. 

It had been a while, Gabi blinking back tears when the sun started to rise over the horizon. Reiner wasn’t here to see it… 

A small group of people made their way around, she could see them moving. At first she tried to hide, but she knew Bertholdt anywhere. He was there, and Pieck and Galliard and Falco, too. “Hey! I’m here!” The group turned to look at her, all four of them running to the building she was standing on. Bertholdt flew up the ladder, practically tackling Gabi and pulling her into a tight embrace. “Bertholdt…” 

“Gabi! I was so worried about you…” He squeezed her tight, rocking her back and forth before pressing a kiss to her forehead. He loosened his embrace, pulling away from her after a second. “Where… where’s Reiner?” 

Gabi swallowed. Did she need to recount her last moments with Reiner? Tell him how he died? Would her silence be enough? She reached into her bag, grabbing Reiner’s promise ring. She stretched out her closed fist to Bertholdt. He looked at her quizzically before letting her drop the object into his hand. 

Bertholdt frowned at the ring before realization hit him. He choked out a pained sob, clutching the ring to his chest. 

All Gabi could do was pull Bertholdt into a hug and cry with him. 

**Author's Note:**

> This fill was kinda rushed, sorry... I wanted to get something written before I have to go back to work tonight.  
> Loosely based off what I saw when my boyfriend played The Walking Dead on our playstation. I don't actually know anything about the series...


End file.
